NBC Cancels Bent, Awake And Two More

Today we learned that Parks and Recreations and Up All Night were renewed, and last night there was good news for Community. But it's not all good news for NBC. The ax fell for a number of the network's struggling freshman series, some more deserving of a second chance than others. Unfortunately, these ones won't be getting them.

TVLine is reporting that NBC is pulling the plug on Awake, Bent, Best Friends Forever and Are You There Chelsea?. The latter two comedies, I'm relatively indifferent toward, as neither of them grabbed my attention, but the cancellation of Awake and Bent is particularly disappointing, as I was a fan of both.

Awake stars Jason Isaacs and follows a man who is in a car accident with his wife and teenage son, after which he begins to wake up in two different realities, one of which has his wife alive and his son dead, and the other in which his wife has passed and his son survived the accident. Last night's episode ended with a particularly great revelation. It's unfortunate to know the series won't return for a second season. There are two episodes left scheduled to air this month. Hopefully we'll get some measure of closure from the show when the finale airs on May 24.

Meanwhile, the Amanda Peet starring comedy Bent never really got a fighting chance, airing late during midseason, with two back-to-back episodes over the course of three Wednesday nights (against some serious competition). As I mentioned last month, I'd hoped NBC would take a chance on the series and bring it back for Season 2. While I can't say I'm surprised to hear bad news, I'm still very disappointed.